Powdersville Middle School students paint hall murals

From left in the back row are Arianna Carpenito, Michael Buntenbach and Emery Williams; front row, Tuanh Cong, Allison Lackey and Jayla Jenkins.

Students in Debbie Limbaugh’s eighth-grade art classes offered a unique gift to their school this spring. Walls that started the year a dull off-white, were transformed into patriotic South Carolina displays in a four-week marathon of painting.

Chad Mustin, eighth-grade English language arts teacher, organized the painting and created the designs. Students began painting during their art classes, but by the end of the year, after testing and exams were concluded, they spent several hours each day finishing the murals. Now, as visitors enter the eighth grade hallway, they are greeted with the South Carolina seal, a palmetto tree and crescent moon, and “Welcome to 8th Grade” mural.

At the end of the hall, a rippling United States flag covers the wall that surrounds the doors. In addition to painting the murals, eighth-grade art students painted the columns between lockers a bright blue, and painted the ceiling tiles above the lockers a bright red.

Eighth-grade BETA club members also helped with the beautification project by painting ceiling tiles with designs of their choosing. The goal is to eventually replace all of the tiles in the hall with student-created work. Mustin is the eighth-grade BETA club advisor, and also was selected to represent Powdersville Middle School as the 2013-2014 Teacher of the Year.